Global pressure from consumers to improve animal welfare, and reduce microbiological risks or the use of antibiotics pose new challenges for the meat industry. Today’s livestock production, despite many undertaken measures, is still far from being sustainable. This forced the need to work on alternative protein types that come from plants, insects, fungi, or cell culture processes. Due to some technical and legal barriers, cultivated meat is not present on the European market, however, in 2020 it was approved in Singapore and in 2022 in the USA. While the technology of obtaining cell cultures from animal muscles has been known and successfully practiced for years, the production of a stable piece of meat with appropriate texture, taste, and smell, is still a problem for several scientific groups related to subsequent companies trying to obtain the highest quality product, in line with the expectations of customers. Although the work on optimal cell meat production has been going on for years, it is still in an early stage, mainly due to several limitations that represent milestones for industrial production. The most important are: the culture media (without animal serum), which will provide an environment for optimal muscle development, natural or close to natural (but still safe for the consumer) stable scaffolds for growing cells. Here, we review the actual knowledge about the above-mentioned challenges which make the production of cellular meat not yet developed on an industrial scale.

Salmonella spp. is the most frequent cause of foodborne diseases, and the increasing occurrence of MDR strains is an additional and increasing problem. We collected Salmonella spp. strains isolated from meat (poultry and pork) and analysed their antibiotic susceptibility profiles and the occurrence of resistance genes. To determine the susceptibility profiles and identify MDR strains, we used two MIC methods (MICRONAUT and VITEC2 Compact) and 25 antibiotics. Phenotypic tests showed that 53.84% strains were MDR. Finally, molecular analysis strains revealed the presence of bla_SHV, bla_PSE-1, bla_TEM, but not bla_CTX-M genes. Moreover, several genes were associated with resistance to aminoglycosides, cephalosporins, fluorochinolones, sulfonamides, and tetracyclines. This suggests that further research on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in foodborne strains is needed, especially from a One Health perspective.

Background: Globally, Salmonella enterica is one of the leading causes of foodborne illness in humans. Food of animal origin is obligatorily tested for the presence of this pathogen. Unfortunately, in meat and meat products, this is often hampered by the presence of background microbiota, which may present as false-positive Salmonella. Methods: For the identification of Salmonella spp. from meat samples of beef, pork, and poultry, the authorized detection method is PN-EN ISO 6579-1:2017-04 with the White–Kauffmann–Le Minor scheme, two biochemical tests: API 20E and VITEK II, and a real-time PCR-based technique. Results: Out of 42 presumptive strains of Salmonella, 83.3% Salmonella enterica spp. enterica, 14.3% Citrobacter braakii, and 12.4% Proteus mirabilis were detected from 180 meat samples. Conclusions: Presumptive strains of Salmonella should be identified based on genotypic properties such as DNA-based methods. The aim of this study was the isolation and identification of Salmonella spp. from miscellaneous meat sorts: beef, pork, and poultry.

Background: The identification of natural antibacterial agents from various sources that can act effectively against disease-causing foodborne bacteria is one of the major concerns throughout the world. In the present study, a unique phytobiotics mixture containing thymol, menthol, linalool, trans-anethole, methyl salicylate, 1,8-cineole, and p-cymene was evaluated for antibacterial activity against selected strains of Salmonella spp. Results: The phytobiotics mixture was effective against Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovars Enteritidis, Typhimurium, and Kentucky. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of this unique mixture for these three pathogens were 1:256. Among these three strains, one S. Kentucky presented the most extensive resistance profiles to 18 antibiotics belonging to 5 classes of antibiotics. One of S. Typhimurium presents extensive resistance profiles to 14 antibiotics belonging to 5 classes of antibiotics. Conclusions: The results suggest that the phytobiotics mixture used in the experiment can be used as a strong natural antibacterial agent against Gram-negative foodborne pathogens such as S. Typhimurium, S. Kentucky, and S. Enteritidis. This is a preliminary analysis of the effectiveness of a phytobiotic product in an in vitro model, which may be the starting point for further studies, including in vivo animal models.

The “One Health” approach increasingly demonstrates the global spread of pathogenic microorganisms and their antimicrobial resistance in the environment, both in animals and humans. Salmonella enterica subsp. diarizonae is nowadays very often isolated from cold-blooded reptiles to a lesser extent from sheep, but unfortunately more and more often from humans. However, there are a few studies describing the isolation of Salmonella enterica subsp. diarizonae from migratory wild birds. The mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), a wild animal that traverses the continent of Eurasia, can be an excellent indicator of the spread of intestinal microbes as well as their resistance to antibiotics. This is the first report of the Salmonella enterica subsp. diarizonae detection in Poland in a migrating mallard duck. This research presented the identification difficulties associated with the isolation of Salmonella enterica subsp. diarizonae using three different biochemical tests and advanced serology tests. At the same time, we detected very high antimicrobial resistance in the isolated strain. By using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method, it was found that the isolated strain of S. enterica subsp. diarizonae has high antibiotic resistance against 14 of the 33 tested antimicrobials agents. The resistance genes that have been identified in S. enterica subsp. diarizonae include aadA, strA/strB, and bla_TEM.

Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs), including basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), are the most frequently diagnosed cancers in humans, however, their exact pathogenesis is not fully understood. In recent years, it has been hypothesized that the recently discovered Hippo pathway could play a detrimental role in cutaneous carcinogenesis, but no direct connections have been made. The Hippo pathway and its effector, YAP, are responsible for tissue growth by accelerating cell proliferation, however, YAP upregulation and overexpression have also been reported in numerous types of tumors. There is also evidence that disrupted YAP/Hippo signaling is responsible for cancer growth, invasion, and metastasis. In this short review, we will explore whether the Hippo pathway is an important regulator of skin carcinogenesis and if it could be a promising target for future therapies.